ABERDEEN — The Aberdeen High School boys basketball team lost eight seniors from the 2009-10 squad that reached the third round of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 3A playoffs.
Such a loss would be more than enough for most area high school coaches to prepare for a rebuilding year.
Not Roy Hazzle.
At Aberdeen High, graduation simply means more room on the varsity bench for new players, the next crop of standouts, and another playoff run.
Hazzle, The Dispatch Small Schools Boys Basketball Coach of the Year, believes in his players and, in turn, they believe in them. He knows when to push them on the court to perform better than they believe they can, and he knows when to listen and how to get them ready for anything.
“He always has a thing where before a game … I don”t know how he does it,” assistant coach Marquis Burnett started to say, trying to figure out Hazzle”s magic as he talked. “No matter who we”re playing, they”re up to playing them. If the L.A. Lakers were to walk into the gym, the boys would believe they could beat them.”
Hear that Kobe?
You can beat any team in Mississippi. You can beat any team if you put your mind to it. Ain”t nobody better than us.
That”s the mind-set the 2010-11 Bulldogs used to reach the third round of the playoffs again.
“I wasn”t surprised,” Hazzle said of the success, one season after losing four of five starters. Aberdeen went 28-3 last season before losing to Corinth. “As a matter of fact, I was looking forward to being in Jackson. But there”s always someone out there that”s going to compete with you, and that”s what we tell our kids every night. Don”t play below your talent. Expect the unexpected.”
Believing in players is about more than backing the future All-State standout. It”s about giving eighth-graders, ninth-graders, 10th-graders, even 11th-graders a chance to develop because you never know what the lanky, uncoordinated kid will transform into with some work — OK, a lot of work — commitment and a dedicated coaching staff.
Sometimes Hazzle”s basketball practices resemble a football scrimmage, with more than 30 players dressed out. But the presence of so many players has helped the ninth-grade and junior varsity teams continue to be feeder systems for the varsity squad.
You lose some, but you always keep some ready.
“It gives everybody a chance to see what they can do, give them a better understanding about the game,” said Shedrick Fair, a reserve guard who will be a senior in the fall. “See what they can bring to help bring us a championship.”
Last season”s team took the revamped roster as a challenge. Just because the previous year”s starters — mostly seniors — graduated didn”t mean they should give up on their dreams.
As Fair said, it only meant it was time for reserves to become
starters and for bench warmers to earn playing time and to find a
role and a way to contribute.
After all, Hazzle coaches them just like he coached them.
Hazzle, who has coached for 24 years, is waiting to find out if the 2011-12 team will be the one to match the 2008 squad”s state championship exploits.
“We just have to want it a little more,” Hazzle said. “Hopefully, with a young bunch and a more hard-working bunch, we”ll eventually get over the hurdle and get back to Jackson and win it again.”
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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